Is their a safe product for weekly wipe down of boat to remove mineral deposit

[swbca]

Does anyone have a product that will chemically remove mineral buildup on the sides of their boat . . . . low toxicity for weekly use for example.

I use diluted acid products twice per season strong enough to dissolve heavy mineral build up in 5 seconds, but would prefer something safer used daily or weekly.

Edited August 21 by swbca

[Ski_Dad]

try Hot Sauce

[DW]

My boat sits on a lift when not in use.  This process works really well - spray a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and liquid spray Turtle wax on the still wet boat and towel dry.  Removes the water spots & waxes the boat simultaneously.  After a while just under the rub rail tends to accumulate some hard water spots that need additional attention.

[Broussard]

I've heard good things about Lucas Oil Slick Mist

I use Aero Cosmetics Wash Wax All every time I pull the boat out

[503Kento]

We don’t have much in the way of hard water here but I rinse my boat with fresh water and wipe down after every use. I have an RV pump connected to a Home Depot bucket of water.

[LeonL]

Vinegar

[buechsr]

Vinegar strips wax.  So, a garage queen might be served well with vinegar, not for gel that sees the elements IMO.  I'd experiment with 303 as a barrier and use hot sauce, or use a good cleaner (Collinites) and do a ceramic coating.  Takes 10 minutes and nothing will stick to the gel for several months.

[B_S]

Second Hot Sauce

[DonT]

I"m happy with Ducky Plus -  we have very hard water at our lake.

[skierjp]

50/50 White vinegar and windex

[gmut]

Hot Sauce or Lucas Slick Mist

[Drago]

11 hours ago, LeonL said:

Vinegar

Yup, vinegar. 5% (cleaning vinegar, or Heinz I think is 5%)

[buechsr]

Ballers,

Seeing a lot of vinegar proponents ITT.  Vinegar obviously works to remove spots and deposits, but OP is looking for a solution to be used on a regular (weekly) basis. Vinegar would not be what I’d recommend for that.  Particularly if the gel is dark, or spends any time exposed to UV.  Surface prep to avoid sticking, goes way further than post-use cleaning particularly when using a product that is antithetical to the protective qualities on the surface.

[fu_man]

+1 for Boat Bling Hot Sauce.  I usually dilute it 50% with water.  Works just at well. 

Also have used vinegar and spray wax but again I dilute with water- 50% water 25% vinegar 25% spry wax.

[storm34]

Nothing beats the smell of Hot Sauce in the morning! We have hard water with a ton of silt/sediment.  I used to wipe boats down with vinegar mix after every use to prevent build up.  We now only clean after a few days of skiing/weekend since Hot Sauce rips right through tough water spots.  Best when applied to slightly wet gel.  A gallon typically get me through a midwest summer.

[HMan66]

I’ve been using this stuff since I saw Mark Roske using it on a brand new Prostar.

 

[LeonL]

As far as spray wax, I used to use Eagle 1.  Can't find it anymore, so now I use Lucas .

[david_ski]

My boat sits on a lift. Our lake water leaves major spots.  HotSauce works great.  I was using 50/50 vinegar/water up until 2 years ago. During the winter of 2022, I used "3M Perfect-It Gelcoat Medium Cutting Compound" and "3M Perfect-It Gelcoat Light Cutting Compound" to get the gelcoat clean.

Since then I have ONLY used Hot Sauce and the water spots have not built up.  An occasional hand touch up with the 3M cutting compound has only been needed on the stern since I started using Hot Sauce.

[Skoot1123]

I just picked up some Hot Sauce last night in hopes of keeping my water spots down too. 303 is awesome stuff, but the hard water spots are a bugger to get off.  Can’t wait to use it today and see how it works. 

[buechsr]

If folks like to do a hot sauce wipe down each outing thats all good, but I'd still suggest a ceramic coating, (even if just a spray on), to a well-prepared surface and then nothing sticks.  Plus is an excellent UV protectant.

[Skoot1123]

@buechsr I used a ceramic coating two years ago and it didn’t perform very well. The one I used (Glidecoat - Marine Ceramic) was marine specific - it just didn’t last very long - though it sure looked nice when I was done with the boat. Which ceramic coating did you use?

[buechsr]

7 minutes ago, Skoot1123 said:

@buechsr I used a ceramic coating two years ago and it didn’t perform very well. The one I used (Glidecoat - Marine Ceramic) was marine specific - it just didn’t last very long - though it sure looked nice when I was done with the boat. Which ceramic coating did you use?

hydrosilex spray on.  amazon.  What did you do to prep your surface?

[DW]

@buechsr  - would you provide us with a step by step procedure from surface prep to finish?  You have some insight many of us white vinegar users must be unaware of, thanks.

[buechsr]

38 minutes ago, DW said:

@buechsr  - would you provide us with a step by step procedure from surface prep to finish?  You have some insight many of us white vinegar users must be unaware of, thanks.

Sure.  As posted above, I'd use a good marine cleaner, if not first a very light abrasive. Examples of each are collinites 920 (NOT the cleaner wax) and 3M Finesse -it II.  Collinites says its a medium compund but its not in my opinion, but should be more than sufficient to prep the surface.  But, if you have any hazing or oxidation to clean up its the time to do it first just use NO products with any wax or protectant.

Then use hydrosilex recharge.  Technically its for recharging your ceramic coating but it works fine as a first coat.  You can even (probably should) put 2 coats on.  It goes on just as easy as a spray wax.  Small areas at a time.  Wipe to dry then buff.  You won't be able to stick tape to the surface and water spots won't either.  I could do 2 coats on a ski boat in literally 15 minutes.  

I would concede that everyone's water can differ but that hydrosilex coating lasts 6 months on my cars, all of which are parked outside.  Nothing sticks.  It's amazing waxes are still even sold IMO.

[Bruiser]

@buechsr “wipe to dry then buff”? Hand buff or machine and if machine what type and pad, rpm? Sparked my interest. Thank you

[buechsr]

2 hours ago, Bruiser said:

@buechsr “wipe to dry then buff”? Hand buff or machine and if machine what type and pad, rpm? Sparked my interest. Thank you

Good question. No machine. I Just followup with a clean microfiber.  

As for removing any haze/oxidation, thats as needed using your preferred compound/cleaner. 

[pkskier]

Boat Bling Hot Sauce

[2Valve]

This stuff is the best I've found. Easily removes water spots and adds a layer of wax.

 

[skierjp]

50/50 white vinegar and windex. Then every so often apply Top Coat F11 Pro. This stuff is awesome and almost as easy as a quick detailer. For extra  protection once or twice a year use Rejex. It is a polymer sealant. Super easy to apply and remove. You see these two products used on high end stuff. These 2 products are the only thing I’ve found where you can see dramatic results on white.

[buechsr]

 mixing vinegar and a product with ammonia, (like a lot of windex) creates chlorine gas and is a safety issue.  No good to breathe and I wouldn’t think we’d want on our boats.  

Vinegar is actually a relatively strong acid.  Windex is a base.  I get having to use an acid mixture to remove hard water spots but I agree with OP, it’s an unnecessarily harsh approach.  And, every time you use an acid you’re stripping or weakening the top layer of whatever is there: gel coat, wax or sealant.   A “basic” product might be needed for some hull residue, but both (acidic or basic) should be used only as needed IMO   

Time is way better spent preparing and protecting a surface, than it is using harsh compounds from daily use.   Just MHO. 

[TallSkinnyGuy]

I've heard Boat Bling Hot Sauce is essentially water and vinegar with some stuff added to make it smell nice. Its primary active ingredient is acetic acid, which is apparently the main component of vinegar. Sure does smell nicer than my normal water/vinegar mix, but substantially more expensive.

This thread has definitely made me more interested in looking into ceramic coatings. Would be nice to simply wipe the boat down rather than having to spray an acid on it to keep hard water spots from forming.

[RAWSki]

I just  need to know how you ballers, in clubs with club boats, get the  members to wipe the boats down at all?  With or without a fresh smelling vinegar-wax solution….

[COsnowandwater]

We have been using a Turtle Wax "Wax & Dry" solution for 4 years on our boat & it works well & the finish is in great condition. Mix 1 part Turtle Wax: 1 part white vinegar: 1 part water

[Rednucleus]

@RAWSki I consider it quite a privelage to be a member at Hilltop, and doing the two minute wipe down after skiing is part of "pride of membership" for this baller. Everyone should treat their club's assets like they would treat their own stuff.

[DW]

17 hours ago, RAWSki said:

I just  need to know how you ballers, in clubs with club boats, get the  members to wipe the boats down at all?  With or without a fresh smelling vinegar-wax solution….

@RAWSki   By getting you to do it 😅😆

[Mastercrafter]

20 hours ago, TallSkinnyGuy said:

I've heard Boat Bling Hot Sauce is essentially water and vinegar with some stuff added to make it smell nice. Its primary active ingredient is acetic acid, which is apparently the main component of vinegar. Sure does smell nicer than my normal water/vinegar mix, but substantially more expensive.

This thread has definitely made me more interested in looking into ceramic coatings. Would be nice to simply wipe the boat down rather than having to spray an acid on it to keep hard water spots from forming.

I don't doubt this but there is also a wax component to Hot Sauce. Haven't had to actually wax or polish my boat in 4 years and it's still super shiny and slippery (and water spot free) just by using Hot Sauce every 3-4 ski days. 

...But mixing vinegar and some Turtle Wax probably works too. 

Edited September 3 by Mastercrafter

[mlange]

I'll give a slightly different option here.

If you have some water spots that don't come off with simple wiping then I would add a little vinegar to a mix of something that acts as a quick wax.  I was originally doing a mix of 25% vinegar / 25% distilled water / 50% quick wax.  This mix is much cheaper than something like Hot Sauce and works just as well w/out stripping the existing wax.  I then worked my way down in vinegar to about 10%.  You want to use the bare minimum to get the spots off.

I then started playing around with different options for the quick wax. I've now landed on Bead Maker and just mix it with the bare minimum of vinegar.  If you want to save money you can add in distilled water or just go full on Bead Maker if money is no object.  Right now the boat is so slippery that it's almost dangerous.  :)

[skierjp]

@buechsrThats why I buy ammonia free windex. Windex with ammonia will also ruin your window tint. Probably every one at Okeeheelee uses some sort of vinegar mixture to clean their boats. That’s where I found out about it when I had a Black Promo Boat sit in the lake for a week of nationals.It felt like sandpaper. 

@buechsryou know what marines up north use to clean your boat before winter storage or before boat detailing? Muriatic Acid also known as Hydrochioric Acid No joke. A friend of mine owned a large marina ( over 400 boats ) and was also a large Century and MasterCraft dealer. 

[buechsr]

37 minutes ago, skierjp said:

@buechsrThats why I buy ammonia free windex. Windex with ammonia will also ruin your window tint. Probably every one at Okeeheelee uses some sort of vinegar mixture to clean their boats. That’s where I found out about it when I had a Black Promo Boat sit in the lake for a week of nationals.It felt like sandpaper. 

@buechsryou know what marines up north use to clean your boat before winter storage or before boat detailing? Muriatic Acid also known as Hydrochioric Acid No joke. A friend of mine owned a large marina ( over 400 boats ) and was also a large Century and MasterCraft dealer. 

To be fair to the discussion then, I only noted your recommended mixture of windex and Vinegar, not "ammonia free" windex and vinegar...unless I missed something, which is possible.  Standard windex has ammonia.  And is dangerous to mix with vinegar.  Hence I felt the need to speak up, for safety's sake.

As for Muriatic acid I know its not a joke.  I've used it on many boats, personally.  Its an invaluable tool for many hull cleaning jobs.  That said, using an acid of any type with regularity is not ideal (certainly not MA or even vinegar).  MA is way more powerful than vinegar, but even still, using any acid is stripping protective qualities of whatever coating (or lack thereof) exists.  

Everyone can use their preferred techniques.  I'm just in the camp of (after wet-sanding more than my share of boats) that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure.  A properly prepped and sealed hull (wax < sealant < ceramic) with some regularity, best preserves the gel coat with minimal need for upkeep demanded by frequent usage of harsh cleaning agents which is counter-productive to hull color and finish preservation in the short and long term.